President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is considering a defined role for Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in his 2027 re-election campaign, with the former Rivers State governor expected to coordinate presidential campaign activities in Rivers State and the FCT, according to a report by THISDAY.

The proposed arrangement would allow Tinubu to utilise Wike’s political network and influence without requiring the minister to formally join the All Progressives Congress (APC), which Wike has repeatedly said he has no intention of doing. 

The development comes against the backdrop of an increasingly public disagreement between Wike and several APC governors over the structure through which support for Tinubu should be mobilised ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Wike to operate outside formal APC hierarchy

According to THISDAY, the emerging arrangement would give Wike responsibility for Tinubu’s presidential campaign in Rivers and the FCT, rather than placing him within the formal hierarchy of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.

Wike remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite serving as a minister in the APC-led Federal Government.

He has previously said his support for Tinubu’s re-election does not require APC membership or a formal position in the party’s campaign council.

In August, after Tinubu formally constituted the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Wike said he preferred to focus on delivering Rivers and the FCT rather than seeking the position of Director-General.

“I don’t want to lose my state! I will be in my state. I have two states: FCT and Rivers,” Wike said at the time. 

He also described the Rainbow Coalition as a cross-party platform for politicians supporting Tinubu while remaining members of their respective political parties. 

Proposed structure follows Wike-APC governors dispute

The proposed arrangement comes days after tensions between Wike and the APC Governors’ Forum intensified over the Rainbow Coalition.

Wike has maintained that his priority is securing Tinubu’s re-election, while insisting that the PDP and other parties remain free to field candidates for governorship and legislative elections.

APC governors, however, have said they will not support political arrangements capable of weakening the APC or creating competing campaign structures.

The Progressive Governors Forum, led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, has specifically opposed arrangements that could produce divided loyalty or competing interests within the party’s electoral machinery. 

Wike subsequently criticised some governors, including Uzodimma and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

He has also asserted that he remains influential in the political structures of Rivers and the FCT, describing himself earlier this month as the “General Commander of the Political Infantry.” 

Tinubu reportedly seeking to prevent campaign clashes

THISDAY reported that the proposed arrangement is intended partly to reduce friction among the different political blocs supporting Tinubu.

The emerging campaign structure is not expected to operate under a conventional single chain of command.

Former Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who was appointed Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in August, is expected to oversee the council’s day-to-day operations. 

However, according to the report, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau are not expected to report directly to Yari, with senior political figures assigned separate areas of responsibility.

The proposed arrangement reflects an attempt to accommodate different political power centres within the broader Tinubu re-election campaign.

Wike’s Rivers and FCT role would be distinct

The proposed responsibility for Wike would similarly be distinct from Yari’s overall campaign role.

Rather than making Wike part of the APC’s formal leadership hierarchy, the arrangement would reportedly place him in charge of presidential mobilisation in Rivers and the FCT.

The choice of the two territories is significant because Wike has repeatedly claimed political influence in both.

In Rivers, he remains a major political figure after serving as governor from 2015 to 2023, while his position as FCT minister has given him a prominent political and administrative presence in Abuja.

Wike has previously said he intends to deliver both territories for Tinubu. 

The arrangement would therefore attempt to accommodate Wike’s political role without formally transferring control of the APC’s wider state structures to him.

Yari remains campaign Director-General

The proposed Wike arrangement does not alter Yari’s position as Director-General of Tinubu’s presidential campaign council.

Tinubu formally constituted the APC Presidential Campaign Council in August, with himself as chairman, Vice-President Kashim Shettima as vice-chairman, APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda as another vice-chairman and Yari as Director-General.

The council also includes senior APC figures, ministers, lawmakers and political leaders. 

The emerging structure appears designed to distinguish between formal campaign administration and political mobilisation by influential actors who may not occupy conventional campaign positions.

Keyamo tipped for communications role

Meanwhile, Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo is reportedly being considered for a prominent communications position within the campaign.

Keyamo has significant experience in presidential campaign communications.

He served as a spokesperson and Director of Public Affairs during Tinubu’s 2023 presidential campaign and held a senior communications role during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 re-election campaign.

He subsequently served as Minister of State for Labour and Employment under Buhari before becoming Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister under Tinubu.

His reported return to the campaign’s frontline communications operation would therefore draw on experience accumulated across both government and presidential election campaigns.

However, the communications structure is already broader than any single spokesperson. Ima Niboro, a former spokesperson to President Goodluck Jonathan and former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, was recently appointed one of the spokespersons of Tinubu’s campaign council. 

A delicate balance for Tinubu’s 2027 campaign

The proposed arrangement highlights the unusual political configuration surrounding Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Wike remains a PDP member but is serving in an APC administration and campaigning for the incumbent President. At the same time, he has promoted a cross-party Rainbow Coalition rather than formally joining the APC.

That arrangement has created both opportunities and tensions.

Wike says his support is specifically for Tinubu and does not prevent other parties from contesting governorship and legislative elections. APC governors, on the other hand, have expressed concern about political arrangements that could weaken the party’s candidates. 

Tinubu’s reported attempt to define Wike’s role therefore comes at a politically sensitive point: how to harness the minister’s cross-party network for the presidential contest while limiting potential clashes with the APC’s formal campaign machinery and state-level interests.

For now, the arrangement remains a reported proposal rather than a formally announced change to the campaign structure. The final roles and chain of responsibility will become clearer when the campaign leadership makes further announcements.

The Catholic Bishop of Aba Diocese, Most Rev. Augustine Ndubueze Echema, has described Abia State Governor Alex Otti as a leader with integrity, saying the governor’s achievements will speak for him as he seeks re-election in 2027.

Echema made the remarks on Sunday at the Christ the King Cathedral (CKC), Asa Road, Aba, during an event held to celebrate his 40th priestly anniversary.

The celebration was attended by Governor Otti, Catholic bishops, priests, Catholic faithful, government officials and other dignitaries who gathered to honour the bishop for four decades of priestly service.

While appreciating Otti for his decision to support the construction of a retirement home for Catholic priests in the Aba Diocese, Echema recalled that he had discussed the need for the facility with the governor about three months earlier.

The bishop said Otti had demonstrated integrity through his actions and expressed confidence that his achievements in office would speak for him during the 2027 election.

“Let me go to our amiable governor. It is not up to three months we invited you here and then we cornered you and presented our needs,” Echema said.

“I mentioned that day that I am dealing with a governor with integrity. And I have no fear of any contradiction to repeat it here.

We are dealing with a man with integrity.

“If you are in doubt, you go to Aba. He is a man of integrity.”

Echema further stated that he was not campaigning for Otti, insisting that the governor’s performance would serve as his own campaign ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

“I am telling you, Otti, I have said it before, I am not campaigning for you and I don’t need to campaign for you. The work that you have done so far will campaign for you,” he said.

The bishop also expressed confidence that the governor would fulfil his commitment to the construction of the proposed retirement home, which he said would ease the burden faced by the diocese.

“You will continue to go higher and higher and I know you will do it. Thank you so very much.

I’m sure the priests are very happy. You have taken down our heavy load. There are so many things to do. So, thank you for this wonderful gesture,” Echema added.

The bishop also thanked God for sustaining him throughout his 40 years of priestly ministry and appreciated the governor, fellow bishops, priests and Catholic faithful for joining him in marking the anniversary.

Otti announces private funding for priests’ retirement home
In his remarks, Governor Otti congratulated Echema on his 40th priestly anniversary and prayed for continued divine strength and good health for the bishop.

The governor described Echema as a “rare gift to Nigeria” and expressed gratitude to God for sustaining him throughout his four decades of service.

Otti also recalled the bishop’s request for a retirement home for Catholic priests, saying he and some private individuals and foundations had decided to take up the project without using government funds.

According to him, the initiative would be financed by the Alex Otti Foundation, Unubiko Foundation, the Ide John Udeagbara Foundation and other private individuals.

“We are very happy that our Father has clocked 40 years in this service and it is a rare privilege to do 40 years. We thank God that he has good health. So that is the grace of God,” Otti said.

The governor added that the project would cater for retired priests, bishops, reverend fathers and potentially reverend sisters.

“I know that there is something that the Bishop has so much passion for. He called me sometime and said, ‘this is what I want to do.’

That is a retirement home for priests, bishops, reverend fathers, and I believe Rev sisters too.
“We want to take that problem off you.

We will fund it. So, work will start very soon. And I know it’s not government’s fund.

It’s from Alex Otti Foundation, Unubiko Foundation, Ide John Udeagbara Foundation and private concerns. So, it’s not a government thing. We will do it to our standard,” he said.

Otti speaks on Abia Airport
The governor also used the occasion to update residents on the progress of work at the Abia Airport in Nsulu.

Otti said construction work had progressed significantly, with the airport’s runway nearing completion.

He added that work on the runway would soon be completed.

The event attracted several prominent figures, including the member representing Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency, Hon.

Ibe Okwara Osonwa; members of the Abia State House of Assembly; mayors; members of the State Executive Council and senior government officials.

Also present were the Archbishop of the Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev.

Lucius Ugorji; Catholic bishops from across the country; friends of Governor Otti, including Chief James Ume, popularly known as Ike Abam, and other dignitaries.

The bishop’s comments come as political activities gradually build ahead of the 2027 elections, with Otti expected to seek another term in office.

A chieftain of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Yakubu Kingsley, has challenged opposition presidential candidates preparing for the 2027 general election to present clear and practical alternatives to the policies of the incumbent administration.

Kingsley said Nigerians deserved to know not only what opposition candidates disagreed with but also what they intended to do differently if elected president.

The PRP chieftain made the call in a statement on Sunday, urging political parties and candidates to make policy proposals, implementation strategies and measurable results the centre of the 2027 presidential campaign.

According to him, the forthcoming election should provide Nigerians with an opportunity to compare competing ideas and assess how each candidate intends to address the country’s challenges.

“As Nigeria moves deeper into preparations for the 2027 general elections, I believe the presidential campaign must be centred on the future of Nigeria, with greater emphasis on ideas, policies, programmes and practical solutions rather than personal attacks, political exchanges and the pursuit of power for its own sake,” he said.

Kingsley argued that removing an incumbent government should not, by itself, constitute a national development agenda.

He urged opposition candidates to explain why Nigerians should support their proposed alternatives and provide detailed roadmaps showing how their policies would be implemented.

“A presidential election should therefore provide citizens with an opportunity to examine competing ideas, policies, programmes and implementation plans.

“Candidates should tell Nigerians not only what they oppose, but what they intend to build and the pathway through which they intend to deliver it,” he said.

The PRP chieftain also called on presidential candidates to provide sufficient details about their programmes to enable voters to assess their proposals beyond campaign rhetoric.

He said candidates should be prepared to answer fundamental questions about their policy alternatives, including the resources required, implementation structures, monitoring mechanisms, expected outcomes and timelines.

“The questions before every candidate are straightforward: What are you offering Nigerians that is different?

“What are your implementation and monitoring structures? The resources required? And what are the deliverables and timelines?

“The answers to these questions define the 2027 presidential conversation,” he said.

Kingsley further appealed to political parties, candidates, their supporters and the media to make policy and national development central to discussions ahead of the 2027 election.

He said political discourse should focus on practical solutions and alternative approaches to addressing Nigeria’s economic, social and developmental challenges rather than being dominated by personal attacks and political exchanges.

“The 2027 election should therefore not be reduced to a contest over who should leave office or who should occupy the office.

“It should be a serious national conversation about what Nigeria should become, how we intend to get there and what each candidate is prepared to do differently,” he said.

According to him, Nigerians should be given enough information to scrutinise the programmes presented by presidential candidates and determine how realistic and measurable their proposed alternatives are.

“The Nigerian people deserve to hear the plans, examine the alternatives, understand how those alternatives will be delivered and, ultimately, measure the results,” Kingsley concluded.

His comments come as political parties and politicians begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections, with opposition figures expected to present their policy alternatives and campaign messages to voters in the months ago.